Mobile device information sharing

Abstract

Methods and systems for selecting access networks are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, from a first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of motion information for a corresponding plurality of connection points for one or more corresponding wireless access networks, storing the plurality of motion information in a data repository, receiving from a second plurality of mobile terminals non-overlapping with the first plurality of mobile terminals, requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information, reading the requested motion information from the data repository in response to the requests, and transmitting the requested motion information to the requesting mobile terminals.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 receiving, from a first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of motion information for a corresponding plurality of connection points for one or more corresponding wireless access networks; 
 storing the plurality of motion information in a data repository; 
 receiving from a second plurality of mobile terminals non-overlapping with the first plurality of mobile terminals, requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information; 
 reading the requested motion information from the data repository in response to the requests; and 
 transmitting the requested motion information to the requesting mobile terminals. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of quality indicators for the corresponding plurality of connection points and storing the plurality of quality indicators in the data repository. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein each of the requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information request a quality indication for at least one connection point, and the method further comprises transmitting the requested quality indications to the requesting mobile terminals. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the quality indicators are an aggregation of one or more of latency, bandwidth, reliability, loss, signal strength, and jitter for each of the corresponding connection points. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the data repository provides a look-up table listing a corresponding location for each of the plurality of connection points, wherein the reading of the requested motion information is based, at least in part, on the look-up table. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the data repository includes a look-up table listing indicators of connection quality for each of the plurality of connection points and geographical locations relevant to the respective connection quality indicators. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein storing each of the plurality of motion information in the data repository comprises storing an identifier of a respective access network, and an indication of a location at which a mobile device measured the motion information. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein storing each of the plurality of motion information in the data repository further comprises storing a tag providing additional information relating to an experience of a mobile terminal generating the respective motion information. 
     
     
       9. A system, comprising:
 hardware processing circuitry; 
 a hardware memory storing instructions that when executed configure the hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising: 
 receiving, from a first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of motion information for a corresponding plurality of connection points for one or more corresponding wireless access networks; 
 storing the plurality of motion information in a data repository; 
 receiving from a second plurality of mobile terminals non-overlapping with the first plurality of mobile terminals, requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information; 
 reading the requested motion information from the data repository in response to the requests; and 
 transmitting the requested motion information to the requesting mobile terminals. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , further comprising receiving, from the first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of quality indicators for the corresponding plurality of connection points and storing the plurality of quality indicators in the data repository. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein each of the requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information request a quality indication for at least one connection point, and the method further comprises transmitting the requested quality indications to the requesting mobile terminals. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 10 , further comprising storing pricing information in the data repository, wherein the requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information also request pricing information for the plurality of connection points, and transmitting the requested pricing information to the requesting mobile terminals. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the quality indicators are an aggregation of one or more of latency, bandwidth, reliability, loss, and jitter for each of the corresponding connection points. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the quality indicators indicate a signal strength of each of the corresponding connection points at a corresponding location. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the data repository provides a look-up table listing the corresponding location for each of the plurality of connection points, wherein the reading of the requested motion information is based, at least in part, on the look-up table. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the data repository includes a look-up table listing indicators of connection quality for each of the plurality of connection points and geographical locations relevant to the respective connection quality indicators. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 9 , wherein storing each of the plurality of motion information in the data repository comprises storing an identifier of a respective access network, and an indication of a location at which a mobile device measured the motion information. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein storing each of the plurality of motion information in the data repository further comprises storing a tag providing additional information relating to an experience of a mobile terminal generating the respective motion information. 
     
     
       19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed configure hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
 receiving, from a first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of motion information for a corresponding plurality of connection points for one or more corresponding wireless access networks; 
 storing the plurality of motion information in a data repository; 
 receiving from a second plurality of mobile terminals non-overlapping with the first plurality of mobile terminals, requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information; 
 reading the requested motion information from the data repository in response to the requests; and 
 transmitting the requested motion information to the requesting mobile terminals. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 19 , further comprising receiving, from the first plurality of mobile terminals, a corresponding plurality of quality indicators for the corresponding plurality of connection points and storing the plurality of quality indicators in the data repository, wherein each of the requests for different subsets of the plurality of motion information request a quality indication for at least one connection point, and the method further comprises transmitting the requested quality indications to the requesting mobile terminals.